


It Happened Once In A Simulation

by Lexasyellowpellow



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Awkward Romance, Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, Eventual Sex, F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-31 03:43:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6454021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lexasyellowpellow/pseuds/Lexasyellowpellow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is set post If-Then-Else, but prior to Root discovering that Shaw is definitely alive.</p>
<p>The Machine feels guilty for not finding a way to save Shaw after spending months seeing Root suffer. She tries to cheer Root up by showing her various simulations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Happened Once In A Simulation

_Come on Root, it’s just an apartment._ The hacker shivered and rubbed her hands together. The city seemed colder with Shaw gone. Root sighed, threw open the door, and stepped inside cautiously. It’s like a sick joke. The apartment looked the same as it had a few months prior. Nothing out of place, an old bowl of cereal in the sink and a bunched up blanket on the bed. It was like Shaw had just gone out for the day and would come home any minute. Root blinked back the sting of tears and settled down at the desk in the corner. 

“Okay. I’m listening. Now why did you bring me here?” 

The hacker was quiet for a moment while the Machine whirred in her ear. She pursed her lips and frowned, “Of course I have a laptop with me. This is me we are talking about.” She reached down and pulled the slick metal from her oversized handbag, something her new cover never seemed to be without. She started the laptop without question and sat patiently tapping her fingers lightly on the desk. The Machine started to chatter in her ear again and a moment later the laptop was blinking with a familiar red light which then faded to reveal what looked like a video game screen. Root’s brow furrowed. “What-“ …

“A simulation?” Root groaned. _I came all the way over here for something I could have watched literally anywhere else._ “But why? And why do we have to do this here? Honestly of all places.” 

The Machine flashed onto the screen “A.N.A.L.O.G. I.N.T.E.R.F.A.C.E. M.I.S.S.  P.R.I.M.A.R.Y. A.S.S.E.T. S.A.M.E.E.N.” the text ran across the laptop in a flash and then the simulation start screen returned. “I. F.A.I.L.E.D. Y.O.U.” Root’s breath hitched. The Machine was worried about her; she was doing this as a gesture of kindness. She wondered if she should stop to worry about the implications of this, briefly acknowledging that Harold would be very unsettled if he knew the Machine were caring for her in this way. Hesitantly, Root took a breath and let her hands return to the keyboard.

As soon as the cursor fell on the Start button, Root let out an audible gasp. Sameen’s face filled the laptop screen, a little red box around it. The camera zoomed out to reveal Shaw’s full frame. She was standing right here in this apartment, hovering near the unkempt bed. Root heard the shuffle of feet and watched as Shaw whirled around to face the source of the noise.

* * *

 

“Hey Sweetie” Root heard her own voice purr from the mouth of her simulated self. 

“Root” Sameen huffed. “Unless you’re here with a number or a steak, I’m really not in the mood.” 

“Now Sameen, there’s no need to be rude. I’m here because She wants me to be here.”

Sameen rolled her eyes. “Sure Root. The Machine wants you here. In my apartment. At 2 in the morning.” 

Simulation Root chuckled and pushed a strand of wavy chestnut hair behind her implant ear. “Okay maybe,” she closed the gap between herself and the sociopath in three swift steps and placed her body as close to Shaw as possible without touching her, “I came to see you.” 

Root’s gaze lowered, capturing Shaw’s eyes in her usual eery robotic stare. The pair stood unrelentingly engrossed in a staring contest until finally Shaw glanced down at Root’s lips. She glanced back up quickly trying to recover, but it was too late for her. The hacker had seen her gaze falter. Root’s mouth formed a tight lipped smirk at the victory. She sidled impossibly closer to Shaw, resting lithe hands on her shoulders.

“Not in your life Root,” Shaw mumbled trying to push past her.

Root’s eyes flashed dangerously, “Good thing this is a simulation then.” 

Shaw looked confused for a moment, brows furrowed and gaze unfocused, but it didn’t take long for the concept to click. The simulation was now self-aware. 

* * *

 

Root looked up from the screen. “Won’t it just shut down if it becomes self aware?” 

The Machine’s light blinked a few times and Root’s lips twisted to the side. “Huh. Intriguing. Now…what more can you show me?”

The Machine blinked excitedly and the screen dissolved into a new scene. 

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how many chapters this will be. Plan is for each chapter to be a different simulation. Let me know what you think of this idea in the comments.
> 
> Future chapters will be rated M and potentially will need to make the rating Explicit, fair warning. 
> 
> I will warn you I think this may end up being rather bittersweet. Everything that is good happening in their relationship will all be in simulations, since Shaw is at this point still in captivity by Samaritan. While the simulations are comforting to Root, when she closes the computer, Shaw is still absent. The Machine wants to help, but is this really the best way? We will have to wait and see.


End file.
